States Fire Back Against Obama's Carbon Emissions Plan

A sampling of states' reactions to President Barack Obama's plan for reducing carbon dioxide emissions from coal-fired power plants:

STATES MOST RELIANT ON COAL FOR ELECTRICITY

KENTUCKY: Not surprisingly, the proposal is widely unpopular in Kentucky, which gets 92 percent of its electricity from coal — more than any other state except West Virginia — and is the nation's third-largest coal producer. "Why keep chopping the legs out of your own economy to fight a world problem?" asks Gary Whitt, a railroad worker whose job depends on coal shipments.

INDIANA: Gov. Mike Pence and a state manufacturers' group say the plan would cost Indiana — which generates 80 percent of its power from coal and is perched atop a gigantic vein — jobs and business growth while boosting ratepayer costs that are among the nation's lowest. Purdue University researcher Doug Gotham says replacing aging coal-fired plants with natural gas burners will help.

STATES THAT PRODUCE THE MOST COAL

WYOMING: Fighting the feds is nothing new in a state participating in a dozen lawsuits against the Environmental Protection Agency over air emissions. Gov. Matt Mead says he's reviewing the proposal and will "fight for coal" if necessary. Wyoming leads the country in coal production with nearly 40 percent, and Wyoming Mining Association director Jonathan Downing says it can be a clean energy source.

WEST VIRGINIA: Democrats and Republicans may agree on little else in the No. 2 coal-producing state, which also gets almost all its power from coal, but opposition to the EPA plan is bipartisan. Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin says none of the state's coal plants is close to meeting the proposed standard, although companies say they're cutting emissions.

STATES REQUIRED TO MAKE THE BIGGEST CUTS

WASHINGTON: The plan demands a 72 percent cut in coal usage, a far higher rate than any other state. But it helps that in this hydro-rich state, just 3 percent of electricity is coal-generated. Gov. Jay Inslee praises Obama for his leadership on carbon pollution, while officials note that a voter-approved law requires the largest utilities to get more power from renewable sources.

SOUTH CAROLINA: State government and power companies say the federal order to cut coal emissions by 51 percent is surprisingly harsh. But more than half of South Carolina's power comes from nuclear plants and that will increase after two units under construction go online.